Russia Border Regions Report Power Cuts After Ukraine Attacks

Officials in Russian regions bordering Ukraine reported power cuts and water supply issues on Monday after deadly drone attacks by Kyiv.

The attacks and shelling on the border region of Belgorod over the past day killed a four-year-old girl and wounded seven people, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.

Ukraine regularly targets Russian border regions with drones, claiming attacks on energy facilities and ammunition depots.

Russia, for its part, has heavily targeted Ukraine's energy network and Kyiv has been forced to introduce scheduled nationwide blackouts.

In Russia's Belgorod, "there have been power restrictions since early morning," the city's mayor, Valentin Demidov, wrote on Telegram, saying that the "situation is complex but under control".

In some parts of the city, the power cuts also affected the water supply, the mayor said.

Air raid sirens were not working in areas with power cuts and cars with loud horns were driving through the streets to sound the alarm, he added.

Traffic lights were also not working, and police were checking main roads, the mayor said.

Gladkov added that 150 kindergartens were without power and water supplies to hospitals were affected.

He said the usual number for calling ambulances was not working and listed mobile phone numbers to call.

In a "number of settlements" around the border town of Graivoron, "there is temporarily no electricity", Gladkov added.

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Ukraine has stepped up its attacks on Russian territory this year, targeting both energy sites that it says fuel Russia's military, as well as towns and villages just across the border.

Repair workers will begin restoring power once an agreement is reached with the Russian defence ministry, he added.

"This problem in our region should be completely resolved by 9 pm (1800 GMT)," Gladkov said in a video posted on Telegram.

In the Kursk region, which borders Ukraine and the Belgorod region, Governor Alexei Smirnov warned that "due to technical issues on power lines in neighbouring regions, a deficit of electricity capacity could arise in the Kursk region".

The Kursk region came under drone attack overnight, with air defences shooting down seven Ukrainian drones, Smirnov said.

Russia's electricity distribution company Rosseti Tsentr held a meeting with Smirnov and other officials on Monday.

It said in a statement that "all socially significant facilities are getting electricity as normal".

In the Voronezh region, which borders a Russian-controlled area of Ukraine, the regional government said some areas were under power restrictions to prevent damage to energy facilities due to overloading of the network.

Voronezh's regional governor, Alexander Gusev, sounded the alarm overnight about a possible drone attack, but later gave the all-clear.